Safe Magnetic Knife Rack?

I have several magnetic knife racks, but don't use them because of the damage they can do to the edge. I've searched high and low thinking that someone must make a safe (perhaps rubber coated) magnetic rack, but no luck.

Yesterday, I talked to the manager at the local Williams-Sonoma who said they've also been trying to find them, but so far have come up empty.

Anyone know of where to find such a item OR had any luck adapting a conventional magnetic rack?

Thanks,

Joe

I'm confused. Why is the edge of your knives even touching the magnetic bar?

I've used these bars for years, and have never had the edge of a knife affected by one. Only thing I can think of is that you are rolling the knives off the magnets by turning them edge-to? If that's the case, try rolling them the other way, in the direction of the spline.

Check out Ikea.
Here is the link for the rack: IKEA | Kitchen organizers | Rails & wall storage | ASKER | Magnetic knife rack. It is aluminum so it should not cause damage to your knife. If that is not sufficient for you , then You could do a craft project. Personally I would buy liquid latex and either paint the holding surface with it or take two different coloured rubber gloves, cut strips of equal length and in the appropriate width, and alternate colours like candy cane stripes or go solid if that is more your style and just use a food safe adhesive. Another option could be to use a food grade silicone sealant and coat the eintire surface. A nice big glob and a plastic scraper dipped in water will create a nice, smooth surface, just make sure it is thin enough that you don't loose any magnetic strength.

OK, I will plead guilty to being obsessive-compulsive when it come to knives, and in my experience, it is impossible to store knives on standard magnetic racks without getting scratches, dings, etc. etc., and occasionally those will appear on the edge. Yes, it is improper technique that causes that, but with metal-to-metal contact, you are playing with fire.

But maybe it's just me.

I stopped by the hardware store this morning and was amazed at the number of magnet products available, e.g. plastic encased and flexible rubber magnets, etc. A lot of options to craft a fairly simple solution.

Dipping the Ikea rack in latex also looks like a good option.

Perhaps there is a cottage industry on the horizon to support those of us with ARKCD (anal-retentive knife care disorder).

Thanks for the ideas!

Joe

Those scratches are so slight they will polish out of the edge at the next sharpening. I wouldn't worry about it at all. Working knives get scratched in use. It's the nature of the job. The scratches do not affect performance.

Go here, beautiful wooden magnetic racks that will not scratch your blades or roll your edges. You just can't go wrong. Some of the exotics are drop dead gorgeous.

Buzz

WOW! Nice.

I made the same rack, but without the nice veneer cover. Wish I had thought of it. I used 1/2" rare earth magnets from Lee Valley, plus magnet-boosting steel cups, and LV's adhesive, round vinyl magnet covers. the wood strip is finished to match my cabinets. Mounted on the tile backsplash with double-sided tape. Works great, looks good - though not as nice as those pictured.

Mike

I keep a lot of my knives on magnetic racks and understand what you mean
by scratching the knives. i solved this cheaply by covering the magnet with
duct tape, applying it smoothly so as to have no bubbles or wrinkles.
voila! no more scratched blades!

I second the BenchCrafted.


I use one and it works great.


Geek

At a fancy model home a few years ago, I saw an invisible knife rack. It was built into the side of the cabinet next to the sink. It was clearly magnets embedded into the side of the cabinet. I thought it modestly clever, but I didn't look at it too hard. I don't know how the side of the cabinet would have taken having knives slapped against it.

I'd be worried that a bump would send bunches of incredibly sharp knives tumbling down around easily punctured humans.

What's wrong laying it down on a towel or using a knife block so gravity wouldn't be a problem?

Terry

Not likely. They hold with a vengeance. I'm quite sure the manufacturers had long talks with their liability attorneys before putting them on the market.



Nothing wrong at all. It just isn't cool, that's all. :cool:

Hi there,

Would my global knives stick to this ASKER magnetic knife rack? Someone told me that because my knives were stainless steel they would not stick to a magnet??

 

Meg

Somebody told you incorrectly!

Most if not all stainless alloys used in the manufacture of knives are ferrous based alloys and have magnetic attraction.

That's odd, because magnets don't stick to my stainless steel fridge.

Last time I was in WS looking at knives all the ones they had on their magnetic strip had a bunch of dents in them on the sharp side, presumably from the metal strip.

Lot of seeming paranoia here.

 

All the knives I've ever had will stick to a magnet, and,  especially a rare earth magnet like crazy.

 

If the WS knives are on display on a typical metal magnetic strip, I can believe that the customers will pound them on and off without much concern and maybe the edge will be slightly affected, though I would think it would disappear at the next sharpening.

 

My own rare-earth mount is covered, as I've said, with light plastic discs which prevent contact between the magnet and the blade.

 

Since they're MY knives, and not Williams-Sonoma's, I've trained myself to roll them off the bar toward the spine, not the edge.

 

It ain't hard.

 

Mike

I found interesting information on construting a holder here..

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/03/magnetic-knife-holder/

 

I used their chart to estimate magnetic strength and ordered magnets above and beyond that from Ebay. Magnetic strength decreases rapidly with distance so it will take some playing around to figure out what thickness the front portion of the wood will need for a solid but not death grip hold. As said I probably bought too strong but better that than too weak. I'll post again once I get the magnets and have a change to do some testing.

If you're handy with woodworking tools, it's not hard to make such a rack.  There is also a big difference between "regular" magnets and "rare earth' magnets.

 

Lee Valley (www.leevalley.com) also sells a wood magnetic rack, cherry, I think.

 

For the record, I've got the el-cheapo Ikea rack at work, and another cheap one at home for my knives.  Love them.  Kitchen drawers (in my home) are a too-big temptation to use as catch-alls for all kinds of stuff, and I never did like block-style knife racks ever since that fatefull day when "mr., nobody" managed to spill some kind of a dairy product all over the block and into the slots and the just quickly wipe it up without telling anyone.......

I bought rare earth magnets, if it doesn't work as a knife rack I should be able to move appliances with it.

You can also use those nifty rare earth magnetics for your kid's science project.  A few rare earth magnets, a wooden ruler from the old days with that little track, some tape and ball bearings will get you your own miniature gauss cannon.  My grandson was impressed.

Thats because the alloy for your fridge is non-ferrous.  If you re-read my question you will see that I made this point clearly.

 

 Stainless steel is a general classification for metals and there are many different grades and ASTM classifications out there that fall under the category of stainless steel and each classification has it's own unique mix of metals to which some include iron (ferrous) and some do not include iron (non-ferrous).

Now you know.

 

 

Uhmm.  No.  All steel includes iron.  By definition, steel is an alloy composed of iron and carbon.  Iron is seldom completely pure, and the iron used to make steel includes some amount of trace impurities -- better ores having fewer impurities.  Additionally, other things besides iron and carbon may be intentionally smelted to produce differing characteristics.  

 

Steel has a crystalline structure, and that structure and many of its resulting properties may be controlled by heat treating and additions to the basic alloy.  Regarding the structure, some stainless steels are "martensitic," others are "autensitic."  Autensitic steels include a fair amount of nickel.  Enough nickel and the steel becomes non-magnetic.

 

In the case of Abe's fridge, the infamous ice box to which the magnets do not stick, the stainless steel is more look than steel.  It's unlikely that nickel is involved at all.  Most likely the stainess is actually very thin (as in a few mils) stainless foil over some sort of plastic or non-metallic laminate, which is molded to cover the fridge. 

 

Hope this clarifies,

BDL

Edited by boar_d_laze - 6/13/10 at 11:03am

 

 

 

This is in fact the way a number of fridges are made, it saves weight and more importantly money. Many of these "stainless" fridges are stainless plated aluminum, polished or brushed aluminum, or plastic "stainless look" veneer over carbon steel. Our Maytag has non-magnetic "stainless". When I was an appliance tech, this was a common complaint and many people who were "expert" metallurgists were duped. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ryan is da man.

 

It's worth saying that the best test for magnetic properties is a magnet.  The actual scientific and engineering theory and practice of practical magnetism is more than a little iffy.  No matter how sure you are, never let theory overrule reality.  It's bad science. 

 

The martensetic autensetic thing may have been oversimplified (by me).  Steels can have a fair bit of nickel and still be magnetic, and none at all and not be magnetic.  Further, the amount of cementite ain't in it.  When you get down to the nitty-gritty, it's really a matter of how the atoms are bound into molecules and the molecules into the steel lattice -- as to whether atomic shells and nuclei are amenable to re-orientation at all, and whether they'll hold the new orientation.

 

If you want to know about something specific, test it with a magnet.  Easy enough, just buy a little refrigerator magnet and carry it along with you.  

 

That said, the overwhelming majority of knives are magnetic enough to stick on a good knife bar.  Almost all steell alloys which are adequate for knives are.  Steels which are formulated to be so corrosion resistant they are incidentally non-magnetic are usually too soft to be useful.  The one class of steel knives with a significant number of exceptions is probably dive knives.

 

The knives should be oriented with the spines facing in one direction only, so that putting the knives down on the bar spine first, and rolling them off edge first becomes unthinking habit.  That will protect the knives and the bar.

 

FWIW, I keep my most often used knives in a block on the counter, and the next most frequently used used knives on a mag-bar under the potrack and above some bookcases (no counter there).  I've used a knife bar off and on for decades and haven't found that it does damage to the knives or that it's insecure for any of the knives I've had (and I've had a lot of them). 

 

BDL